In a known baggage carrier of this type (U.S. Pat. No. 4,113,158), the two free ends of the round legs of each pair of support legs are flattened and are provided with ribbing, and the clamping part is embodied as a U-shaped clip. The clip encompasses the two free ends of the legs and can be fastened to the extension piece of the vehicle frame by means of the locking screw. When the baggage carrier is being assembled, the supporting surface for the baggage is oriented horizontally, whereupon the flattened neds of the legs are fixed in the respective installed position by means of the clamping clip. The available distance by which the legs can be adjusted is limited, however, by the length of the flattened ends of the legs and by the space between these ends in the area of the axle. In practice, approximately 10 mm is available for adjustment of the legs, and because of the many types of two-wheeled vehicles on the market this means that manufacturers must make and keep in inventory a relatively large number of baggage carriers, with various lengths of support legs. Furthermore, the flattening of the free ends of the support legs which is required for receiving the clamping clip means that the legs are physically weakened to a certain extent, which impairs the stability of the baggage carrier in the crosswise direction.
In another baggage carrier known on the market, the clamping part is embodied as a molded plastic part, which has two blind bores serving to receive the free ends of one pair of legs, the axes of the bores forming an acute angle with one another in accordance with the V-shaped arrangement of the legs of the pair of support legs. The rear leg of the pair of support legs is rigidly connected with the clamping part; only the forward leg is adjustable, within a limited range, and fixable in its respective installed position by means of a clamping device in the form of a clamping clip. The adjustability of the forward leg permits nothing more than merely compensating for dimensional deviations within one and the same vehicle type. In principle, an adaptation to various vehicle types is impossible.